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As Far As The Chili Powder is Concerned
As Far As The Chili Powder is Concerned 'As Far As The Chili Powder is Concerned '''was a short-lived rock cover band based out of Bethpage. The band formed in April of 2015, when Bethpage High School Band members Adam Guarino, Alec Cavaciuti, Andrew Ferruzza, Josh Finkel, and Mike Rotunno decided to form a band that would play at the Relay for Life event in June 2015. Shortly after this performance, Rotunno left the band and the remaining members aimed to start writing original music. However, due to musical and creative differences, Guarino and Ferruzza left shortly after Rotunno, and the group disbanded. Guarino, Ferruzza, Cavaciuti, and Rotunno would go on to form a new band, Cilantro Conundrum, for the Relay for Life performance in 2016, while Finkel formed Atlantic for the same reason. Beginnings (April 2015) As Far As The Chili Powder is Concerned was formed in mid-late April of 2015. After traveling to Disney with the Bethpage High School Band for performances in the Music In The Parks Festival, the would-be band mates decided they wanted to jam together and play at the upcoming Relay for Life event (held at Bethpage High School) in June. Andrew Ferruzza, who had previously jammed on drums with Mike Rotunno, had now been a self taught guitarist for about a year. He decided to jam with Mike again, this time with Alec Cavaciuti on drums. Josh Finkel had been picked as a lead guitarist and Guarino was orignally added on keyboard, but was later chosen to provide vocals as well. ''Relay for Life ''event and hiatus (June 2015) Rehearsals for the gig started in late April. The band chose simple songs that could "get the crowd going" and were fun to jam to. This included songs by Green Day, The White Stripes, Nirvana, etc... The surprisingly long name was chosen out of a cookbook, according to Ferruzza, "We randomly opened a cookbook in Al's Cavaciuti's kitchen and started reading a recipe. The first line was 'As Far As The Chili Powder is Concerned' and we agreed that should be the name" After playing at Relay for Life, Rotunno left, presumably thinking the group wouldn't go anywhere. After his departure, the band hoped to start writing original material and eventually book a gig at Revolution, a local "bar and grille." However, Ferruzza and Guarino stepped out of the band, thinking it wouldn't be worth the time and that there was too much tension. The remainder of the band ultimately parted ways as well. Cilantro Conundrum and side projects (May 2016 - present) As ''Relay for Life ''2016 approached, the band members decided to play once again for their fans. They had limited time to practice for this event, having went to Dorney Park for a Music in the Parks festival only 3 weeks prior. With a shorter practice period, they knew they had to make some changes. With the band only being Ferruzza, Cavaciuti, Guarino, and Rotunno, they switched Ferruzza to lead guitar and Guarino to rhythm, with the other two remaining on their respective instruments. Again finding their name from a cookbook, they had to play songs that they could learn in such a short period of time. Deciding to take a more pop punk route, they became a blink-182 cover band for this performance. According to Guarino while on stage, "We're a blink-182 cover band, so we're going to play all Green Day songs for you tonight," intending to make the audience laugh, but failing to do so. They performed their 30 minute set, never to take the stage together under that formation again. As time went on, the members pursued other side projects. In the summer of 2016, Ferruzza and Guarino teamed up with their friend Kyra Bella to create the pop punk song "Nostalgia." They have since stated that after the song's commercial and critical failure, they no longer represent the project. In February of 2017, Ferruzza, with contributions from other band members, created demos for the band ''Dethpage. In May of 2017, Ferruzza, Cavaciuti, Guarino, Bella, and their friend Matt Michelson created a band to perform at the ''Relay for Life ''2017 event. After inner band conflicts during rehearsal, the band decided that it was best not to perform at the event, and they broke up, leaving themselves open to new opportunities with college just around the corner. Brief reunion (June 2016) At the ''Relay for Life ''performance in June 2016, there was a brief reunion of As Far As The Chili Powder is Concerned when Finkel joined Cilantro Conundrum onstage and played sax over a cover of "Sax Jam" (a Wargrave original).